Who Wants To Go On A Truffle Hunt?

Now here is a really great travel experience if you are searching for something a little different on your visit to Italy or France.

Seeking out the elusive truffle has been in existence for a very long time and it is the scent of the truffle that has long been the key to its exclusivity. For years pigs were used to sniff out the rare fungi (and yes for the uninitiated it is a fungus), which grow at the root of oak trees in south eastern France and north western Italy. At over $1500 per kilo, it’s a costly snack if the pig starts a chomping, so trained sniffer dogs were introduced instead.

A typical ‘truffle hunt’ involves you, a truffle hunter and their dog walking through some wonderful French or Italian woodlands. On finding the truffles you can enjoy a guided tasting accompanied by bread, salami and local wines and usually culminates with a truffle menu dinner that night – sounds good to me!

The most common truffle is known by chefs as the ‘black diamond’. You can also join the search in Piedmont for the elusive ‘white truffle’ which, wait for it, fetches over $2000 per kilo. Maybe searching for your own is not only a travel experience but also a saving in your pocket by adding to your own recipe!